


Acts Of Valor

by KayleeJohn



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Angst, M/M, Off-Screen Major Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 23:37:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/855275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KayleeJohn/pseuds/KayleeJohn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry’s a soldier in the military and Niall is the person he leaves at home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“I always get so nervous when you do this.”

Harry glanced back at the blonde sprawled on his bed with a smile but he kept buttoning up his white dress shirt. He turned back to his buttons to make sure he wasn’t missing any before he brushed out any wrinkles in it. He turned around fully and shrugged. “It’s going to be okay, Niall. Just like every time.”

“I know. I know.” Niall trailed off, rolling onto his stomach and burying his face in Harry’s pillow. “Jus’ can’t help it…”

With a sigh, Harry sat on the edge of the bed, risking crinkles in his pants. He tugged the covers off Niall and splayed a hand on his bare back. “Hey, c’mon, look at me.” Niall raised his head so that his eyes met Harry’s before he crawled forward and propped his head against Harry’s thigh. “Remember when I was deployed in Kandahar and we were _incommunicado_ for weeks? Remember how worried you were and it was all for nothing?” Harry chuckled lightly and Niall jutted out his bottom lip in a pout.

“That’s not funny. I couldn’t eat for days.” Niall grumbled, poking Harry’s thigh harshly. “But yeah, I remember.”

“Well, it’s going to be like that when I go to Qalat. I might not be able to write every day or every week. They might not even get to you but I’ll always be thinking about you. Just look up at the stars and every one you can count is the amount of times I’ve thought about you that day.”

Harry’s hand found Niall’s and he laced their fingers together as Niall sat up fully. Niall leaned into Harry before he flickered his eyes to Harry’s lips. Harry understood and closed the distance between them with a smile, pressing his lips softly to Niall’s in a kiss that expressed longing even though they were right in front of each other. Niall shifted on the bed and ran a flat palm across Harry’s taut stomach, fingers finding the buttons that had so recently been done up. Niall started to slowly, subtly struggle with one and he pulled his lips away from Niall’s.

Harry leapt off the bed with a laugh and fixed his already pristine shirt. “No, I’m not letting you do that again.” He reached behind himself and snatched a blue tie off his dressing table, throwing it around his neck. “Last time, I was on bathroom duty for a week because I was running late. Do you know how hard it is to clean a whole bathroom using only a toothbrush?”

Niall rolled onto his back again and chuckled. “I can’t even imagine.” He arched his back and stretched his arms above his head slightly, popping his bones lightly and working out stiff muscles.

Harry let out a groan and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. “You are going to be the death of me.” He whined pathetically before he walked over to his desk. He tapped the surface of it anxiously before he opened a drawer.

Niall sat up fully on the edge of the bed, curious what Harry was doing because the rest of his clothes were still hung up in the closet, along with his badges and shined boots. “What are you doing, Harry?”

Harry finally turned around and, in his hands, he had a small box about the size of his palm. He was spinning it around between his index finger and thumb, staring down at it curiously. “I…I meant to do this differently. I meant to do this better.” Harry walked back over to Niall and knelt in front of him, placing the box on Niall’s lap. “But I want to do it now. So that you know what’s coming back to you.”

Niall picked up the box gingerly as his eyes were completely frozen on it before he glanced up at Harry anxiously. Harry nodded at him as if to say ‘go for it’ and so Niall cracked it open, back shivering as it creaked open before his eyes landed on the treasure inside. It was a single silver ring with ornate designs around the band and there were two diamonds vertically encrusted at the top. Niall felt breathless as he looked from it to Harry and back again.

Harry reached out and plucked the ring from its home in the cushions and looked at it contemplatively before he held it out for Niall to consider it. “I want you to know that you have a husband coming back to you and not just a boyfriend. So…will you marry me?”

Niall must have mouthed the word ‘yes’ four times before his voice finally came back to him and he could say it out loud. “Yes. Yes! Of course, yes!” He reached out and threw his arms around Harry’s neck, wrinkling the collar of Harry’s shirt and staining it slightly with his happy tears. Harry smiled so widely he thought his face would snap in half. He hugged Niall back wholeheartedly until he released him and fumbled to slip the ring onto Niall’s left ring finger before he cupped Niall’s face and kissed away his tears.

The moment was perfect until three honks sounded from outside the house and Harry reluctantly moved away from the bed. He walked over to the window, pushing aside the thick curtains and letting light in for the first time in days. “They’re outside.” Harry mumbled before he let the curtains flutter shut again. “And I don’t want to go anymore.”

Niall stood up from the bed and shuffled over to Harry, hugging him from behind. “I have a husband coming back to me.” He hummed, grinning secretively into Harry’s back.

Harry spun around in his arms before he bent slightly and kissed Niall lightly. “Yes, you do and that husband is not ready in the slightest!” Harry wiggled out of Niall’s arms and ran over to his closet, dropping to the floor so he could start tugging on his shoes. Niall laughed and flung open the blinds, getting dressed himself before he started to lug Harry’s three bags downstairs. He had only managed to get the first one down before Harry came barrelling down, fully dressed with the other two in tow.

“I’m going to go put these in the truck and then I’ll be back.” He pecked Niall’s cheek lightly before he tugged open the front door and jogged across the lawn.

Niall dragged Harry’s third bag down the hall with a huff, wondering if the boy was bringing bricks in this one and feathers in the other two. He finally managed to get it onto the porch when he saw feet stop in front of him. He looked up slowly and his eyes landed on Harry’s best friend, a short and curvy brunette with a mischievous demeanour and a charming smile. “Hey, Louis.” Niall smiled at him, remarking that he was dressed in the same way that Harry was.

Louis reached out jovially, ruffling Niall’s hair lightly before he picked up Harry’s final bag easily – Niall chalked his weakness up to not having military training. “Hey there, sunshine.” Louis joked, hoisting Harry’s bag over his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, shut up.” Niall rolled his eyes at the on-going joke that Louis, Harry, and, the third of their party, Liam had. The joke was that Niall was literally comprised of sunshine and therefore he earned the title. Niall reached out and punched Louis’s shoulder lightly. “Bring him back in one piece, okay?”

“Yes, sir!” Louis mock-saluted, straightening his back stiffly just as Harry walked back over.

“What’re you two talking about?” Harry asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Sunshine’s just asking me to bring you back in one piece. You got some plans I don’t know about?” Louis turned to Harry and wiggled his eyebrows jokingly.

Harry grinned at Louis before he stepped forward and took Niall’s hands in his. “Yeah, I’m getting married.” Harry grinned down at Niall and Louis gasped, now transfixed on Niall’s hands.

“Holy shit! Congratulations you guys!” He threw an arm over their shoulders each and squeezed them once. “Hey listen,” He dropped his voice. “Don’t make Liam best man, okay?” Harry and Niall turned to him and laughed so Louis clapped a hand to his chest, acting as if he was offended. “I’m being serious! I’m totally best-man material.”

Behind them, Liam honked the horn impatiently and leaned out of the jeep’s open window. “I don’t plan to be on bathroom duty again, you twats! Hurry up!”

Louis shook his head and laughed before he waved at Harry and Niall before walking away to give them some privacy. Niall reached up to cup Harry’s face and gave him a final desperate kiss as Harry’s arms wrapped tightly around Niall’s thin waist. Liam honked a final time and Harry pulled away.

“I’ll call you as soon as we’re stationed, okay?” Harry said, pecking Niall between his words. “Tell my mum I said bye.” Harry finally backed off and he ran across the lawn to the car, jumping into the back seat and tapping the roof with his hand. He waved at Niall as the car sped away and Niall blew him a kiss before he was out of sight. Then, Niall stepped into the empty house and shut the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

The first night of Harry being gone, Niall found himself on the roof of Anne’s house staring up at the sky as it turned from a dark blue to black. Then, the stars began to appear, popping out one by one like sparkling diamonds against black felt in a jewelry store. Niall started counting them but only got up to fifty before he lost his place and had to start all over again. Where others might have gotten frustrated, Niall was only comforted and he fell asleep on the roof with a smile on his face.

The next day, Niall was sick in bed from having slept in the cold all night long but he still managed to sneak outside around 11 PM and he found himself on the roof like he had been the night before. He began counting the stars again as he dug his tingling fingers into the pockets of Harry’s biggest and warmest sweater. There was the same amount of stars out this night as there was the night before, if not more, but Niall couldn’t count them all and he didn’t want to either. Just before midnight, Niall dragged himself back inside and he fell asleep buried beneath Harry’s sheets.

The following morning, Anne called to him from downstairs, “Niall! Mail’s here!” and, even though he had only left the day before last, Niall sprang up from the bed thinking that maybe Harry had sent a letter. Niall leapt out of the room and raced down the stairs quickly, sliding to a stop in front of Anne who handed him a stack of envelopes. “Right, I’m off to work. Just leave any bills on the kitchen table.” Anne began heading towards the front door, picking up her bag off the hallway floor before she turned back to Niall. “Don’t you have school today, dear?”

Niall shook his head ‘no’ as his fingers played with the sharp corners of the envelopes. “I took the semester off because Harry said he would be home until July.” Niall shrugged as if it didn’t matter because he knew it was Harry’s duty to his country but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

“Here’s hoping he’ll be back before you have to return to school.” Anne smiled at Niall lightly before she waved. “Take care, Niall.”

“You too!” He bid her goodbye as she left before he headed into the kitchen, grabbing a yogurt from the fridge and a spoon from the drawer. He started eating idly as he shuffled through the letters, passing by bill after bill, nothing addressed to him in any case. He dumped the stack on the table with a sigh but he knew that there was always tomorrow.

Niall spent weeks this way, awaiting the mail anxiously in the morning and falling asleep under the stars, but Harry never sent any letters like he had promised and the stars grew less and less bright from light pollution, or at least that’s what Niall told himself because the idea that Harry wasn’t thinking about him anymore hurt more than he would like to admit.

One cold and gloomy Saturday, Niall and Anne were watching the afternoon news when the doorbell rang. Niall glanced over at the living room window while Anne stood up from the couch to go answer the door. Niall wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on behind him until he heard a sentence that sent ice to his toes.

“Are you Mrs. Anne Cox, mother of Private Harry Styles, stationed in Qalat?”

When Niall heard those words, he leapt off the living room couch and sped to the front door, eyes wide and wild as he spotted the two army men standing on the front porch, the foremost with a folded flag tucked under his arm. He instantly clapped hands to his mouth, lips trembling and eyes watering. Anne placed a hand on Niall’s shoulder lightly, comfortingly, before she nodded to the two men.

“Mrs. Cox, the secretary of the army has asked me to express his deep regret that your son, Harry, was fatally wounded in the line of duty.”

At those words, Niall’s heart stopped. All air left his lungs and he involuntarily let out a choked sob, falling to his knees. His eyes were vacant as he stared at the floor and the words spoken above him thereafter fell on deaf ears. When the door swung shut, Anne knelt beside him and wrapped an arm around him, clutching the folded flag in the other. She cradled Niall as close as she could and Niall sobbed in her arms, knowing that he would never see those green eyes light up again and he would never see that cheeky grin again and he would never feel those fingers tugging at his again. The ring on his finger now felt incredibly heavy just as the clothes on his back made it extremely hard for him to move. But he couldn’t stay here.

Niall swiftly pulled away from Anne and sprinted up the stairs. He pushed open Harry’s bedroom door and threw himself onto the large double bed in the middle of the room. He wrapped himself in the covers tightly, wishing he could go back to that day three months ago and he could hold onto Harry just a little tighter and beg him not to go, not to leave. But he hadn’t known back then. He hadn’t known but, oh, how he wished he did.


	3. Chapter 3

The funeral plans were all arranged by Harry’s lieutenant because neither Anne nor Niall could manage to get through even five minutes of it without bursting into tears. So, the plans were made and, when the day came, they made a promise to each other to stay strong for Harry but that was quickly broken when they arrived. Harry’s whole squadron was there, dressed in funerary attire and that included Louis and Liam. Once Niall’s eyes landed on Louis, he pulled away from Anne and ran over to him, pushing him out of line when he was close enough.

“You fucker!” Niall roared, pushing Louis again. He ignored the fact that he was drawing the attention of all attendees onto himself; he was angry and irrational and he needed the sudden burst of energy to go somewhere so it transformed into anger and it was directed at Louis. “You promised me you would bring him back! You gave me your word!” Niall battered Louis’s chest with fists that started out strong but quickly became weak as tears started pouring down his cheeks.

Louis didn’t speak. He just stood there, allowing Niall to let all his frustrations out on him and, when Niall’s knees buckled beneath him, Louis clutched at Niall’s arms and held him up. Eventually, Louis tugged Niall into a tight, protective hug but that just made Niall cry harder because he would never again be able to wrap Harry in his arms or, in turn, be wrapped up in Harry’s arms. Leaning against Louis’s chest, Niall wailed, wishing that when Harry had died, he had as well, so that he would never have to be alone. 


End file.
